Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, NOV. 5, 1907 A STRIKE IMMINENT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11118, 5 November 1907, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, NOV. 5, 1907 A STRIKE IMMINENT.

As was anticipated, the railwaymen of Britain have declared by, ah overwhelming majority in favor of a strike, arid unless'! the conference to bO held to-morrow between their representatives and the representatives o_ the companies, in the presence of Mr Lloyd George, President of the\ Board of Trade, results in a compromise; the British Isles will be plunged in industrial turmoil more serious .than has ever previously occurred. A gigantic strike, such Vas the Trailwayirien propose, cutting off at one stroke the "main communications of the commerce, is little short of .civil war. It will, be Just as serious in its effects by, the, misery arid starvation , it will. cause,, and by ijie complete dislocation of trade ; arid industry as an actual Clash of arms) arid coming- at an [exceedingly busy time of the year, is surp to give a7very seripusr check to British commerce. The whole trouble haiigs on the .'refusal of the directors of the railway companies to recognise the unions or their officials. They decline to see the workers v in the presence of the trade ..union-, secretary. i( They .want to dead with the men .individually; "and refuse absolutely to treat with them collectively. The men have made various demands for the betterment of their position, but they realise, that recognition of their unions is the crux of; the question, and if the directors had, been ' willing to concede this, there would never have been | anytalk of stri_£e7 The principle of collective bargaining has been recognised in nuirierous industries throughout Britain, and is in force in regard to the principal railway^ of Europe, but the British railway directors, who are a very conservative body of' men, liave taken a firm stand, and are making what is an obvious attiempt to stamp out unionism. The 'great body of press and public opinion in Britain has been against them, 'and they have been advised for several months past to concede the disputed point. As one paper points out, the position of the'companies is not a strong one in the eyes of the public. 'They appear to be stranding out on a punctilfaj not on an issue of .extravagant demands for higher wages or shorter hours. "At this time of day," remarked another paper, the Tribune, "it is' surely too late for railway companies to stand almost, if not quite, alone among tho great organised industries in refusing to recognise the facts of trade unionism. Swell recognition, has attained its highest and most efficient point in the highlycomplicated Lancashire cotton trade. These- general questions of wages or hours are' dealt with by a conference of the employers' representatives, their agents arid soijcitors', with the central executive of the' operatives' union; tho elaborate lists are revised at district conferences of employers with- trade-union officials and representative workers, and salaried experts of 'both parties watch over the carrying out of the arrangements un detail. That is what the railway companies would call 'interference' with the conduct of a business -with a vengeance; but it- is found to make for the peaceful continuance of work. If no other trade lias any system qxvipe so thorough-going, it', is nevertheless true that all round, in the more skilled industries, the tendency has been towards the substitution for the 'amateur negotiator,' of those who may be described as 'the salaried -civil service of the movement.' In the long run this is tbe only way to make smooth and harmonious working possible. It cannot positively secure that; rupture and a strike or Tock-out .imist always remain an ultimate contingency, failing the New Zealand compulsory arbitration system, of which there . is no prospect in England. But' at least 'recognition' does secure .the' nearest .possible approach to mutual intelligibility and' that fairness of -delations whicii make, for a common sense of justice." 7 The refusal of the directors to give way on this one point must provoke a strike, with all its dreadied consequences, and it may be taken for granted that if Parliament intercedes, as intercede it must when a conflict comes, the principle that the men are striving for will be established by law. It has even Ijeen- suggested, that it may lead to an emphatic demahdTfrom the public for the nationalisation of railways, which, judging from colonial experience would be a Very good thing. Lord Brassey, speaking before the Associated Chambers of Commerce at Liverpool last month broached' this subject. He said that British railway administration was honest ; it was able ; but competition was carried to excess. Ah -immense capital was wasted on duplicate lines, not called; for by the public and trader, and railway workers complained, the latter saying that their wages were too low and their hours tob long, and the former that rates and charges were excessive. "We are," continued! Lord Brassey, ."perhaps, on the eve of a change of policy. We see what is taking place in Continental Europe. In Germany and Russia, in Felgismn, and, more recently, in Italy

railways have become the. property of the State. The requirements of the public are fully considered; the results to the exchequers have been satisfactory. If we are takirig a new departure today there can hardly be any question as to what Parliament would do." We have had instances near at hand of how trade and commerce are thrown out of joint by a railway strike. The stoppage of the railways in Victoria four years ago, though it lasted only a few days, caused immense public loss and inconvenience, and having seen the effects of this small strike one can imagine what would be the consequences if the wheels of the railways throughout Britain ceased to revolve. Great suffering would be caused to myriads of people outside the immediate participants in the struggle, and the injury inflicted upon national trade at a timeTwhen depression seems to be apt proa ching would be so ■ great as to amount to a positive <&lamity. . ; - '